Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Walter White Wednesday 75

Sometimes I dislike that I picked Wednesday for my Breaking Bad posts - everyone's already gotten a crack at things before my posts roll around - but here's the plus side. I get a little more breathing room. And I needed that after "Felina," the episode that closed out Walter White's descent into dark respect.

Of course there will be spoilers. Deal.

Over the course of about two years of Walt's life, we've been with him on his own personal chemical transformation. We've seen him go from a nebbishy, sad-sack high school chemistry teacher to a man who made the purest methamphetamine on the market. Then he moved from manufacturing to distribution. He garnered respect for his mad chemistry skills, albeit from some reprehensible types. Moreover, he became consumed by at least four of the seven deadly sins (I won't accuse him of sloth or gluttony, but he managed to corner wrath, envy, pride, and greed. The jury's still out on lust when "lust for power" is added in to the equation). Gilligan's brilliance has been that we started out rooting for Walt, even as we disagreed with his decisions. Remembering his circumstances, it was hard to stop being a fan. But it got harder. And harder. And, for me at least, it became impossible. Now, I've kept my ear to the ground a bit on fan sites and commentary posts and that's not true for everybody - there are some folks who wanted Walt to "win." They believe wholeheartedly that he did all this for his family. (Coincidentally, they also believe that Gretchen & Elliott Schwatrz stole Gray Matter from Walt, something that I'm highly skeptical on, since Walt's story and Gretchen's don't match up at all and we know that Walt can take the truth and turn it into a pretzel without breaking a sweat. They offered him a sinecure job for the sole purpose of paying for his treatment, but nooooo.)

These fans rationalize as much as Walt. Sure, he watched Jane die, but really - was that his fault? And yeah, he poisoned a child, but he knew what he was doing. And Gus had threatened to kill his family, so he had to die and it's not like anyone innocent got hurt in that nursing home. Walt told Todd they couldn't leave witnesses at the train robbery but it's not like he shot Dirt-Bike Drew. Mike, well, Mike was a violent man. And Hank shouldn't have been - well, shouldn't have been so Hank. And Jesse shouldn't have crossed him. And Skyler was just a bitch.

I do not want to break bread with these people.

Walt was a terrible person. Maybe he didn't start that way, but he was so far from mild-mannered Mr. White by the time of "Felina" that he couldn't have found that person with a telescope and a clear night.

And I wanted him punished.

But in "Felina," an awful lot happens on Walt's terms. (And while I've never credited white supremacists with an "overabundance of schooling," as Mal Reynolds might say, they didn't search the half-acre-sized trunk in Walt's car? Seriously - I've seen smaller parade floats and you know that they've watched Jesse's confession, which would have included the whole "I like remote controlled death traps" aspect of Walt's personality.) Yes, he loses it all - wife, son, daughter, friends, money, and even his life - but he loses on his terms. Yes, yes, Lydia's death was fine by me and I was practically cheering as Jesse throttled Todd, but overall - Walt had too much power in this to satisfy my (admittedly dark) sense of justice, although he does finally admit that he did all of this for himself.

My favorite moments? Easy:

The close-up of the Marty Robbins cassette tape falling out of the Volvo's glove box. Robbins sings the lonesome cowboy song "El Paso," which features a Mexican maiden named "Felina."

The flashback of Jesse carefully crafting that inlaid wooden box that we heard about back in "Kafkaesque" in Season 3.

Speaking of which, I hope Jesse finds peace, although I doubt he manages. And I wish Saul well with his new career with Cinnabon.

Anyway, that's my take. Click here to see my co-author'stake and here to see the view from someone much farther north.

Breaking Bad may have come to a close, but "Walter White Wednesday" will continue. Wanna Cook? is in the final push, then there's editing to do and I want to keep you all up to date as publication nears. So please - keep "Walter White Wednesday" near and dear to your heart - and your bookmarks! (And use that handy "Follow Me on Twitter" button over on the right!)

Yes, trust me - I know that the Breaking Bad finale was last night - fear not, thoughts on that are coming for "Walter White Wednesday...

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Look, I'm flattered if you read something here and like it enough to want to want to rip it off. Or even if you dislike it enough to want to rip it apart. In either case, the content of this blog is mine - I'm responsible for it and you are not to use it without first obtaining permission from me.

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K. Dale Koontz

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Who?

K. Dale Koontz may have watched too much television as a child. She learned to count via Sesame Street and first learned that genres could cross-pollinate through M*A*S*H. When she discovered Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the die was cast. In 2008, McFarland published her book Faith and Choice in the Work of Joss Whedon which focused on themes such as redemption, choice, and consequences in Whedon's work up to that point. (She's fairly sure Volume 2 could be written to include Dr. Horrible, Dollhouse, and The Avengers.) She is a founding member of the Whedon Studies Association (a great group of people, but don't mention Twilight. Just sayin'). She has presented original work on the Rossum Corporation in Dollhouse, Kitty Pryde, and Japanese anime. In 2014, she and co-author Ensley F. Guffey worked with ECW Press to publish the critically-acclaimed Wanna Cook? The Complete, Unofficial Companion to Breaking Bad. Her most recent project was to team again with Ensley and ECW to publish A Dream Given Form, which is the only guide to all the canonical works in the Babylon 5 universe. That book is currently available for preorder and will be released in September of 2017. Dale is available for speaking engagements and only occasionally uses puppets in her presentations.

What?

I have long been interested in storytelling - how we do it, why we do it, and what happens when we mix things up. This interest might be the result of being born and raised in the American South, a region that has long celebrated the involved story over the quick answer. Television - the good stuff, anyway - does this brilliantly. Far from being film's red-headed tacky cousin, good TV lets characters and relationships build slowly and often mixes up genres, so horror is next door to humor and fantasy rubs shoulders with procedurals. This blog focuses on both the "good stuff" being broadcast that catches my fancy (with a special emphasis on Babylon 5, since that's the book that's in the process of being written right now) as well as film. The films are usually new releases being watched for TV19's weekly Meet Me at the Movies, although I reserve the right to veer off into classics and under-appreciated gems as well. Older posts cover what my introduction to film class was up to - currently, I'm not teaching that course, but who knows what the future may hold.